


Tales of a Bloody End

by Kikaromi



Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: Copious Spoilers for Xillia 2, Could be considered Julius/Ludger if you want to go that route., Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-02-15 23:25:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2247312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kikaromi/pseuds/Kikaromi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All he had left was his brother. It was a choice he could never forget, yet he'd never regret it.<br/>A collection of mini-drabbles centered around the Bad Ending of Tales of Xillia 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. That Day

They’re dead.

Without even having to check for pulses or subtle movements, Ludger knew they were dead. He could hear Julius whispering behind him and turned to face him, although he didn’t circle around entirely. From the glimpse he caught of his brother, he was (understandably) horrified by this outcome. Apparently Julius had expected Ludger to prioritize Elle’s and his friend’s lives over Julius’ life— heaven knows why though.

Even though Julius kept many, many truths from him and even rigged a few circumstances so that they’d in his older brother’s favor, those weren’t enough to warrant him death. He loved Julius. He loved Julius, and there was no way he’d let his friends’ desires take both his sibling and his happiness away without a fight.

Thus, using both his own and Julius’ watches, Ludger invoked an even stronger Corpse Shell than before and took down whoever he could before his power faded and he picked off the stragglers who survived long enough to out-last his transformation.

At that point, it’d been just him and Jude. Everyone else was either too weak to force themselves to stand or fell victim to blood loss long before he reverted back. Ludger couldn’t remember what exactly Jude said to him, but he could recall Jude attempting to approach him without raising his fists. Ludger took one step back for every step forward by Jude, occasionally pushing Julius towards a safer spot just in case.

They eventually ended up in a position where, should Ludger try to step back, he’d fall into the water. Falling into the water wouldn’t be bad if he had nothing in his hands, but swimming to shore with a short sword in each hand? Not worth the risk.

Jude wouldn’t stop coming closer despite having every reason not to get within close range of the younger Kresnik. Once they were not even a step apart, Ludger felt Jude’s arms pull him into an embrace. Normally he’d be comforted by this, though this time fear coursed through him, warning him that this was a perfect opportunity for one of Jude’s friends to kill Julius as he was trapped in Jude’s arms.

Ludger thrashed around until Jude was forced to let go, and he switched to his pistols and unloaded his entire clip on his old friend. This time, he didn’t make any move to approach him again; rather, Jude crumpled to the ground dead or pretty much on the way to be. 

* * *

—It’s a memory Ludger attempted to suppress constantly, but it always came back. Whether it be due to remembering the faces of his old friends, or seeing a corpse and remembering the first time _he_ created corpses, the memory never left him for good. 

This more often than not led to panic attacks, soon to be sedated by his beloved brother.  
Oh what he wouldn’t do to forget this bloody deed…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little drabble I wrote on tumblr; if I do any more, I'll post them both there and here.  
> Some drabbles may be longer or shorter than others in the future, but don't expect anything extensive.


	2. Acceptable Soup

For reasons unknown, staring absently at a wall all day had become far less… boring to him. Perhaps it was due to this act becoming routine between him feverishly cleaning himself until he rubbed off most of the skin from his hands and throwing up everything he ate anywhere between a day to a couple seconds afterwards. Thankfully his skin couldn’t get much paler, if at all, though his neighbors did frequently point out how it looked like he lost a great deal of weight.

Julius was probably worse off in the mental department, given the fact he still had to work in order for them to have any money while constantly keeping an eye on Ludger in the event he did something drastic. His worries were probably groundless if only due to Ludger hardly moving from either his bed or the couch, but it was best to be cautious.

There was also the fact Julius’ Time Factorization was making his left arm awkward (and sometimes painful) to use, so he’d dedicated a bit of time to learn how to perform everyday tasks with one hand. It’d worked out, thank the spirits.

"Ludger, would you rather have tomatoes or celery in your soup?" Julius called, turning back to his younger brother. He shook his head in response while pointing at the soup pot on the stove. "You’re going to have to eat, so please choose one.” Ludger held up one finger, which he took as signal to use the tomatoes.

Once finished, the older Kresnik set Ludger’s soup onto a tray and placed the tray on Ludger’s lap. Ludger stared at it for a while, then he proceeded to stir it around using his finger instead of the spoon. Jeez, this just wasn’t going to be easy, was it?

"Do you really wish for me to treat you like you’re four and feed you myself?” From the lack of an answer, he’d take that as, ‘I’m not going to eat unless you physically make me.’ Julius didn’t offer further comment as he scooped up a spoonful of soup and held the spoon right next to Ludger’s lips until he eventually opened his mouth just enough for the spoon to fit.

It’s tedious, he’d admit, but Julius would rather go through something tedious than have his brother starve himself to death. And spirits knew he would in this state.

At least they’d progressed enough to where Julius didn’t have to hold Ludger down, force his mouth open, and pinch his nose so he’d swallow his food anymore.

"Is it good?" Ludger nodded. "Glad to hear it. Guess being an excellent chef runs in the family. You’re a million miles ahead of me though; you can bear with me, right?"

"…Yeah." Ludger’s voice sounded raspy from hardly speaking, although it was still music to Julius’ ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another drabble for you guys; hopefully it's not bad/worse than the former.  
> Eventually these will be longer. Eventually.


	3. Arbitrary Rules

The very, _very_ few times Julius could coax his brother to embrace the world outside their apartment, there were certain rules he must abide by.

First rule, Ludger absolutely _refused_ to leave the apartment unless Julius went with him. When asked, he’d stare at his hands, then look up at Julius; he had an assumption what that may mean, though it was clear Ludger wouldn’t go anywhere without his older brother for the time being and that’s what mattered. When they were finally outside, an unspoken addition to this rule was Julius must **always** stay within sightline of Ludger. The one time Ludger lost sight of Julius, he frantically searched everywhere until he spotted that familiar white coat, clung to its sleeve, and quietly sobbed into it. Suffice to say, Julius learned his lesson.

Second rule, if the duo were going any considerable distance away from their apartment, Ludger must bring (and hold) Lulu with them. Julius thought about trying to convince his brother out of this rule, although maybe not for the reasons people may think.

When they were still close to their apartment, Ludger acted relatively normal and kept calm as they passed by other citizens, occasionally looking back to see if their fluffy companion wasn’t lagging behind. Once they reached an arbitrary marker in Ludger’s mind, he’d scoop Lulu off the ground and hold him in a tight grip that’d grow tighter each time someone walked past. Given Lulu’s humongous stature, a few squeezes every now and then was fine. When the days were busy though… Julius questioned how Lulu never popped with Ludger squeezing him so hard.

And the last rule, Ludger was under **no** obligation to speak to anyone who wasn’t Julius, Lulu, select neighbors, or _maybe_ a few vendors they frequently visited for groceries. For anyone else, Ludger would stare at his brother to indicate he must do the talking since he was too nervous and distrusting of others in this current day and age to converse with strangers. These rules were somewhat restrictive to what sort of outings he’d be able to bring his brother along for, though it was already a blessing he could get Ludger to come out of his shell before he forgot what sunshine was like.

On one such occasion, Julius, Ludger, and a somewhat distressed Lulu were out shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables (read: tomatoes and whatever else they could think of) when Julius spotted a stand practically _dedicated_ to tomatoes and a few other vegetables mixed in. Naturally he was drawn to it, Ludger following behind him and repeating his routine of squeezing--loosening his living stress cat ball.

The stand was run by two women a good deal older than Julius who prided themselves as “one of the select farms that survived through the spyrix energy crisis”, so their products were known to be of quality through thick and thin in their words. When they finished introducing themselves, both of them were focusing on Ludger and how just utterly adorable he was.

“You act like I did when I was your age.” The younger of the two women mused out loud to herself, leaving Ludger looking confused and staring at Julius for an answer he didn’t have. “I’d always follow Roberta wherever she went and let her do the talking. Take it from me, young man: you’ll hassle your older brother here to death if you rely on him to much!”

“Y-Yeah… I… I’m just trying to get over something, that’s all.” Something must have sparked in Ludger’s mind, as he suddenly burst into conversation. “B-But I’ve been doing better thanks to his help. Soon I’ll… try to do more for him.”

It seems “soon” was synonymous  for “right this second” as Ludger set Lulu down to make room for the basket he snatched from Julius’ hands and filled it with tomatoes, celery, carrots, basically one of everything from the stand in varying amounts. Julius didn’t comment, although he couldn’t stop himself from adopting a smile as he watched his brother not rely on him to death. His brother always put him first, didn’t he?

“Are you harassing that poor kid, Stephanie? Shame on you!” Roberta lightly popped her younger sister on the crown of her head, pushing through her to near the feverishly working Ludger. “Don’t let my little sister work you up, sweetie. I’m sure your brother appreciates you already. Isn’t that right?”

Julius flinched as he realized he’d suddenly been prompted to offer his input. Hopefully none of them noticed it was because he’d been staring at his brother… “Oh, of course. I keep the bills paid and Ludger keeps us from eating and living like rappigs. I couldn’t imagine life without my _precious **baby** **brother**_.”

“J-Julius!” Ludger buried his face in his hands, although not before letting out a loud huff in Julius’ direction. “You’re cruel…”

Everyone except the terribly embarrassed Ludger burst out laughing; every second that was spent laughing, Ludger curled more and more into himself until his body somehow curled into a perfect circle. Well, as perfect of a circle a human body could fold itself into without obviously breaking a couple bones in the process. This was cue to leave, most likely.

“Thank you for the pleasant conversation, but I believe my brother and I should be heading home.” Julius handed Roberta a fair amount of gald without truly counting if he’d given the correct amount. From the women’s faces, it must have been the upper limit, though that was perfectly fine to him. He’d consider it his way of thanking the two for coaxing Ludger to speak to a stranger for once and for relaying the message he could not say face-to-face: in his condition, Julius needed a little help every now and then.

“Let’s head back, Ludger.” He called after taking the first few steps towards their apartment. It took Ludger a moment to realize Julius spoke to him and he rushed to his brother’s side, their basket of tomatoes and a few other assortments cradled in his arms. Lulu, who was inherently thankful to be able to travel back the “normal way”, trailed behind Ludger and occasionally meowed when he saw stands containing cat-related products.

He could consider this outing a huge success.


	4. Lost Lamb

Julius had a job interview today, yet he couldn't be more worried for a _different_ reason.

This would mark the first time Julius left Ludger alone for more than a hour. He had attempted to convince his future employer to allow his younger brother to simply sit with him and stay completely silent, though his efforts were for naught. And, unfortunately for him, not many people were too keen on hiring a supposed terrorist; if he passed up this job, there was a low chance of him finding another one.

So, as much as he despised the thought, he'd have to leave his little brother home for a couple hours. Ludger's condition was definitely improving from long ago, but who's to say  **what** he would do when left alone too long? To compensate, Julius set up a multitude of safety precautions so Ludger wouldn't and couldn't hurt himself in his absence.

The first order of business was locking everything sharp in his room and buying some plastic utensils to act as substitutes until he returned. The second order involved their neighbor Melinda and her son James: Ludger, based on his relationship with Elle, had to at least tolerate kids and James was well-behaved for his age. So, Julius asked a favor of both Melinda to watch over Ludger and James to play with Ludger--so long as that activity kept him inside. The commotion outside might spook Ludger and he wouldn't be there to comfort him should his emotions run wild or he suffers a panic attack. 

And the third, and final precaution was informing the otherresidents of Freres about Ludger. If he was to go **anywhere** outside the apartment, he wanted to be notified. He also warned the other residents about keeping sharp objects around his little brother. A few of the people Julius spoke to showed concern when he told them about Ludger's condition, meanwhile others like the woman on the first floor with her plethora of cats and the landlady swore they would do what they could to prevent anything bad from happening during his absence. 

Of course, absolutely none of this helped dash Julius' worries, but it was a big brother's job to worry. 

So, once Julius finished freshening up, he knelt down in front of Ludger and spoke to him in the most relaxed, soothing tone he could. "Ludger, I have a job interview today. I'll have to leave for longer than I usually do, but I promise the  _second_ I can come home, I will." He brushed Ludger's bangs aside to place a comforting kiss on his forehead. "Melinda from a few doors down also asked if we could play with her son James for a few hours; would you do that for me? They'll be here in a couple minutes."

Ludger frowned as Julius stood up and walked to the door, though he forced himself to smile when his brother looked back at him. "I-I'll...be good." 

"I know you will." With a wave goodbye, Julius stepped out of the apartment and went to catch the soonest train to Drellin.

* * *

Getting a job to hunt monsters all day wasn't something Julius would complain about.

A growing food supplier in Drellin had coined the idea of using monster meat instead of cattle--it was significantly cheaper, and Spirits knew if there would come a day when monsters were completely wiped from the face of the planet. Of course, slaying them was another task entirely, and that's where Julius' new job came into light: he was to kill the healthiest monsters he could find and do everything he could to avoid tainting the meat. Julius could fend for himself, so it wasn't a big deal. As long as he had  _some_ sort of income keeping him and Ludger from going broke, he'd do just about anything.

Part of his "interview" was to actually demonstrate he could kill a monster by himself, which was no tall order for a former Crown Agent of Spirius. His employer couldn't have been more delighted to see him slay a healthy-looking Western Wolf in Catamar Heights, and that managed to secure him the position of "professional monster slayer".

With a few last statements, Julius left Drellin and returned to Trigleph in better spirits than when he left. This certainly didn't last very long, as he could make out James and his mother among those in front of Freres. As much as he'd like to get a little angry for the two of them ignoring his directions to stay inside for Ludger's sake, he knew better than that. They wouldn't have left the apartment for no reason, and from their expressions, something upsetting must have unfolded in his absence. 

The second Julius came within view, Melinda and James came running towards him, poor James crying his eyes out. "I-I... I-I'm sorry...." He kept repeating over and over, though Julius simply patted James on the head, quietly assuring him he did nothing wrong. 

"I'm sorry for letting you down after you trusted us, Julius..." Melinda couldn't look Julius in the face; the guilt was too much. "Ludger was fine for the first few hours. He must have missed you more and more over time because he eventually started crying. I assured him you would be coming back soon, but he didn't seem to be listening. Before I could even react, Ludger bolted out the door! James and I went after him, but once we followed him to the train station, we couldn't find him..." 

Julius half-expected this to happen, although he'd been hoping it wouldn't. Regardless, he'd have to track down Ludger before he wandered into trouble. "Thank you for keeping Ludger occupied while you could. I'll go look for him myself. If you see him though, please give me a call." He left the two with a warm smile, as he knew he couldn't hold this against them. They did their best, and he wouldn't fault them for it. He'd just have to find Ludger and talk to him about running off on his own.

There was a high chance Ludger took a train somewhere in hopes he'd find him, and Julius had a pretty good guess where Ludger  _assumed_ he went for work: Duval. Truly, he could have found work there if he searched hard enough, but Duval's type of work wasn't suited for those wishing to keep a shred of dignity or decency afterwards. Julius preferred to have a steady job that didn't rely on "certain tactics". 

So, not even bothering with a train, Julius headed out to Alest Highroad to make it to Duval by foot. Avoiding the monsters wasn't very difficult, and he could pick off the few stragglers in his way far quicker than he could those in places like Drellin or Rieze Maxia. It also made for good exercise, and he'd certainly need some of that if he was to hunt monsters for a living.

* * *

 

Duval was as pleasant as he remembered. If it were  _anywhere_ else he'd bother to ask around, but you could rarely find trustworthy individuals around these parts. Julius didn't have time to find that diamond in the rough. He'd find Ludger even if it required him to skimp out on sleeping tonight. 

He couldn't find hind nor hair of Ludger on the main streets, so he took his search towards the alleyways. When he paused for a moment to scan the area, Julius could hear the faint sound of someone sobbing and asking for help. Something told him that must be Ludger, so he followed the sound of the noise and found himself in a remote corner of a long labyrinth of alleyways. At the very back of this corner was Ludger, huddled into a ball and babbling incoherently minus the occasional "Julius"or "Help". 

Ludger must be crying pretty hard. He didn't react when Julius approached him, nor when Julius placed a hand on Ludger's shoulder to let him know he was there. "Ludger." Julius spoke up, but Ludger kept on crying without looking up or his tears slowing down. Leaving him so long really did a number on his younger brother...

"Ludger, it's me." Julius pushed Ludger's knees down so his brother's eyes would meet his own. Ludger, at the sight of his brother, suddenly rammed into him and resumed crying, though he did so while cuddling into Julius' chest. 

"Julius! Please don't leave me again!" Ludger begged as his shaking hands clung onto the fabric of his coat. "I was so afraid... I thought you would get hurt... I thought I would never see you again..." Recalling his negative thoughts increased the tears all the more, so Julius reached over to rub Ludger's back and give it a few pats to help him get all the tears out. 

"You know I wouldn't leave you, Ludger. It's a big brother's job to watch over his little brother." Julius teased, hoping it might lighten the mood. It interrupted Ludger's crying for a few seconds at least. "But you shouldn't have run off like that. You not only worried me, you worried the neighbors, the landlady, and Lulu too. We were all afraid something might have happened to you." There was a sigh from the older brother, though it was directed at himself than the younger brother. "If you promise not to run off like that anymore, I'll try speaking to my boss and see if he'll allow you to accompany me once in a while. Promise you'll do this for me?"

Ludger looked up to face Julius, nodding as he propped himself so that his big brother could hold him close. "I promise. I'll make everyone I worried a tomato omelette to apologize; I'll save you the best one." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while, I know. But enjoy another drabble!


	5. Requited Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julius remembers the first time he came to realize the boy living in the same apartment as him wasn't just some fly on the wall.   
> He was a human being, his little brother Ludger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had an idea for this, and while it doesn't quite tie in with the rest of the ficlets itself, it's partially an extension of the one before this.   
> Plus I admit I just wanted to do a little chapter with tiny Ludger and Julius.

“Nii-san…?”

Julius looked up from his dinner (the usual takeout, due to his inability to cook) with an icy sneer. “What do you want, Ludger?”

“U-Um…” Ludger tugged at his pajama shirt, struggling to find a way to ask what he wanted. “Can you tell me about Mommy?”

Julius’ blood ran cold. Just _thinking_ of Claudia brought back memories he’d rather not think about, and he struggled to conjure up stories to sedate Ludger’s curiosity. As little as he cared for the child, he wasn’t so cruel as to cause him unnecessary pain. And telling him his mother died, by his hand no less? Impossible.

“She was a nice woman who loved you a lot.” Ludger’s gaze inquired him to continue, but he refused and dodged the silent question. “Eat your dinner, Ludger. I can’t afford to buy you another meal if yours gets cold.” Julius resumed eating after that.

Ludger’s mood dampened, though he still persisted. Julius was always so uncomfortable talking about her. There had to be a reason why! And his undying curiosity wouldn’t go away until he knew the truth. “If she loved me so much, then why isn’t she taking care of me? Did something happen to her?”

“I’m not talking about this, Ludger. Eat your dinner.” Julius responded without missing a beat.

“But why? Why can’t you tell me about Mommy?”

These incessant questions were quickly getting on Julius’ nerves. He had already _told_ Ludger: he wasn’t going to talk about this. So why couldn’t he just shut up and let him eat in peace? Was that so hard?

“Because _I’m not talking about it!_ For the last time, just eat your dinner.”

“But I--!”

“LUDGER!” Julius’ fist slammed the table, causing Ludger to flinch back. “If you ask about your mother one more time, I’ll make **_sure_** you end up where she is! So stop asking me! NOW!”

The message was received loud and clear. Ludger didn’t even apologize or look him in the face as he ate his food in utter silence, aside from the fork in his hands occasionally clanging against his plate due to his shaky hands. Julius knew he himself should apologize for losing his temper, but he couldn’t bring himself to care enough to do so. He asked Ludger to stop asking him about his mother, he didn’t, so he disciplined him. He was perfectly justified, plain and simple.

Once they both finished their plates, Ludger quietly thanked him for the meal (while still avoiding his face) and immediately made a beeline for his room. The older Kresnik shrugged, leaving his younger brother to his devices as he dropped the dishes in the sink for Ludger to clean in the morning. For one reason or another, the child insisted he help out in little ways around the house; Julius never got the hang of household chores, so he let him without complaint.

With dinner finished, Julius had no reason to stay up and thought to turn in for the night. Before he did, he knocked on Ludger’s door to get his attention. “Goodnight, Ludger.” There was some shifting inside the room, a definite signal of ‘leave me alone’, and he was more than happy to oblige.

Morning came, and yet there was no Ludger. Normally his younger brother would be bouncing off the walls, yelling from the doorway, ‘Get up Nii-san!’ and beg him to walk him to school. But when he stepped out of his room, there was nothing. Ludger’s bedroom was empty, the plates had been cleaned already, and Ludger’s backpack had left the coatrack near the door. The school wasn’t far, so Ludger was fine walking there by himself. Julius just made himself some toast, put the dish he’d used away, and headed to the Spirius building as usual.

* * *

 

Maybe yelling at Ludger like that was more of a mistake than he realized.

Julius left work _immediately_ when he received a call from Ludger’s teacher a few hours ago (he had to destroy the dimension first, he knew the rules). It’d been the generic warning of ‘if you don’t call your child in, this absence will be marked as illegitimate’, but that meant **Ludger never went to school today.** Where did he go, then? Julius never showed Ludger the entire city—what if he got lost? He should have never let that brat walk himself to school--!

Just to see if maybe this call was a mistake (of course it wasn’t, how could a school make a mistake?), Julius’ first stop was the grade school’s front desk. “Where’s my brother!?” He’d asked the woman up front. Her look was one of…disappointment?

“Mr. Kresnik, we called you about Ludger hours ago. If you were worried, why didn’t you come earlier?”

Those words stung in a way Julius couldn’t describe. “I-I was… caught up in work, and I couldn’t come until now.” Why was he making excuses? He didn’t show any concern last night about Ludger’s wellbeing— “Is Ludger not here?”

His concern was shining through despite his awful excuse, given by the softening of the woman’s eyes as she shook her head. “Nobody has seen him near the building today, Mr. Kresnik. But if he turns up, would you like us to call you, provided that you’ll answer?”

“I-I’ll answer right away, so please… if you see him, tell me.” Julius thanked the receptionist with a dip of the head. “I’m going to go search for him. Thank you for doing what you can.”

With that lead dead in the water, Julius couldn’t begin to think where Ludger may have run off to. The only places Ludger _should_ know well is the school building, the apartment complex, and _maybe_ the Seahaven thanks to him taking Ludger out to eat at the inn once or twice. Just for the sake of his sanity, he checked the Seahaven and even the Train Station for Ludger, asking everyone he passed by if they saw a young boy with while hair and green eyes by himself.

Eventually he found a person who said they thought they saw a boy like the one he described talking to a police officer and the officer guiding the boy to the station. Without even questioning the reason Ludger may do such a thing, Julius rushed to the police station closest to their apartment complex and asked the nearest officer if they saw Ludger.

“…Are you Julius Will Kresnik, sir?” The man asked plainly.

“Yes, I am. Has my bro—Ludger Will Kresnik come this way?”

The officer he spoke to glanced at another officer to his right in what Julius assumed to be some type of code he wasn’t understanding. Whatever code lead to the second officer leaving the room to go elsewhere, leaving Julius and the first officer he spoke to alone. “Your brother came to us for help. He told us he ran away from home because you were going to kill him. Was he right, Mr. Kresnik?”

_Kill_ Ludger!? He never said _anything_ like--!

**_“If you ask about her ONE MORE TIME, I’ll make SURE you end up where she is!”_ **

….Ludger had taken his words seriously. Ludger had seriously thought he meant to kill him. He scared Ludger so terribly he ran away from home and **told the police on him.** And, for once in a long time, all of this was enough for the normally stoic Julius Will Kresnik to cry, in front of a stranger no less.

“I… I never meant…” In his sobbing, Julius tried to justify to both the officer and himself how he never meant this. Not one bit. And yet, at that moment in time, _he had._ When he said those words, Julius thought of Ludger as just this fly on the wall he wouldn’t mind getting rid of or wouldn’t lose sleep if it flew off somehow. And now that it had, Julius realized how **wrong** he’d been and how much that ‘brat’ he _though_ he disliked actually meant to him. “Please… please let me see him! Even if he doesn’t want to come home, I… I need to apologize to him.”

“…Alright. Come this way, son.” He was lead to the back corner of the building into what he assumed was normally an interrogation room. That same officer from before stood in the corner of the room, eyes trained on him, as Ludger entered from a different door and sat down at the plain table in front of them. Julius sat down on the opposite end, though he wished he could have run up to Ludger and cradled him like he deserved. Something told him making such a move might be seen as an attack, which wouldn’t help his case.

“Ludger.” Julius said, which was enough for Ludger to flinch and curl up in the seat. “I… I didn’t mean what I said last night. Talking about your mother is… hard for me,” If only he knew why. “and I didn’t know how to tell you that. But I want you to at least know this: no matter what I say, I wouldn’t hurt you Ludger. I would _never_ want you to die. Because…” It was humiliating to think this would be his first time saying this. “I love you, Ludger.”

Ludger uncurled from his turtle position, blinking back the built-up tears in his eyes. “Y-You mean that…?”

Julius nodded furiously, “Yes, I mean that a million times over. You’re my little brother, and I-I couldn’t stand to think of what my life would be without you.” His hand reached out from across the table, “So please, would you be willing to come back home?”

The officer finally tore his gaze away from Julius to instead stare at Ludger. Ludger smiled at the man and nodded, sliding off his seat to join Julius’ side. “Sorry for making you worry, Nii-san.” He couldn’t reach Julius properly from the height of the chair, so Ludger opted to hug Julius’ leg.

“Shh, don’t apologize Ludger. _I’m_ the one who should be sorry.” Julius consoled his little brother, patting the young boy on the head. “Now, how would you like me to apologize? Maybe some ice cream? Or a quick stop by the pet store to look at the cats?”

“Ooooh, I wanna see the kitties! Can we?” Ludger’s eyes lit up, pulling at his older’s brother’s pant leg.

Julius finally stood up from his seat, taking the hand attached to his pant and guiding it to his palm for him to hold. “Of course. Anything for my baby brother.”


End file.
